Stephen Curry made a 3-pointer, as he tends to do. Then he turned around, faced the Hawks’ bench and did a little shimmy right in front of an opposing player. Right in front of him. Right after a made 3-pointer. In a victory on the opponents’ home court.
Let’s get really mad about this and ignore that the Hawks player was Kent Bazemore, one of Curry’s closest ex-teammates. Let’s roar about how Curry and the Warriors have an ego the size of California. Let’s turn against the first 50-5 team in NBA history, the team that is looking likely to end this season the best in NBA history. You know we were going to do it eventually, right?
MORE: Classic Curry photos | Has he really 'hurt the game'?
Sports culture doesn’t allow us to appreciate nice things sometimes. Nice things like the best shooting season we’ve ever seen from a player whose story up until this point is basically a Disney movie: smallest kid in school can’t get a big-time scholarship and deals with subpar competition and ankle injuries to become the best player in the world.
Maybe that’s the problem here. Curry was too perfect up until this point. He was the role model for kids. He recorded videos for his hometown church’s men’s group during the playoffs last year. He does charity events and raises his two daughters and sticks by his wife to the point that he’s one of the rare NBA players known for not being a partier. The hate doesn't flow as easily toward him as it does with, say, Russell Westbrook. He's not imposing. He's not surly. He shimmies.
The people who want to hate Curry must dig deep. Of course they want to hate him — he is at the top, and there’s always hate at the top. But we doubted anyone could; last year, I interviewed 10 writers who have covered Curry in various capacities, and none could find “the bruise on the apple,” as Politico’s Michael Kruse put it. There was good reason to ask whether he’d ever be put through the ringer as so many of our greatest are: Curry has humble roots, a likable personality, an adorable family and a set of good ol’ Christian values.
The guy has the background of a presidential candidate — more than anyone in this election, even.
MORE: Remembering Curry's amazing 8th-grade year in Canada
Then he got better. Yes, he got too good. Winning the MVP and the championship last season was fine. (We even took the NBA Finals MVP away from him, in case that all became too much.) But now he’s challenging a hallowed Michael Jordan Bulls record. He’s taking and making 30-plus-foot shots without hesitation. He’s about to break his own 3-point single-season records with 20-plus games to go.
Suddenly, Stephen Curry doesn’t seem like such a perfect idol for your kids — if you’re the type of person looking to athletes as role models in the first place, that is (stop that). Except, you know, he probably is. This Curry still makes goofy videos with his wife (and sometimes the first lady). This Curry still puts in devoted hours of hard work, before and after his warmup shows. This Curry still is a guy who last night, after the shimmying was done, exclaimed “Mother Sucker!” when a teammate poured cold Gatorade on him.
There’s a circular logic to all the criticisms. Curry was beloved for being like the everyman, in stature if not in skill. But he takes pride in his accomplishments, and suddenly he’s no longer the same person? Confidence creates success and success creates confidence. That fancy watch you bought when you got a raise — that’s Curry tossing up the 3-point goggles after a big shot. Curry is showing off because he has something to show off. The problem with that is in the eye of the beholder. If you have an issue with Curry and the Warriors showing off a little ego — while they are 50-5 and defending champions, mind you — that is a reflection of your own insecurities.
MORE: Curry film session: How does he always get so open?
The thing is, we want to criticize Curry. No one wants to fall into another trap, another lull, the way we did with Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods or pretty much every baseball player. Skepticism comes naturally to the modern sports fan and journalist. So every dash of flash, every solitary loss (the Warriors haven’t lost two in a row yet, by the way), every non-humble quote gets dissected.
We’re prodding the apple for bruises and finding nothing but our own fingerprints. Curry is left to shimmy away.
(H/T Steve Noah and Chris Palmer for the Vines.)
